This blog is posted from a now retired 33 year CAW (now UNIFOR) member. The purpose of this blog is to allow others to see the perspective of the average worker, rather than the views of the Union Leadership If you have any concerns or comments on this blog, contact me at Email:paulsblues45@hotmail.com
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Monday, May 18, 2009

The Top 10 E.I. Things Michael Ignatieff Missed While Out Of Canada

With new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff trying to champion himself as the voice of the unemployed, calling the PM mean-spirited in his refusal to adopt a 360 hour national average for Employment Insurance, I thought it might be a good idea to point out some things he seems unaware of. Of course these were all a full 10 years prior to him returning to Canada.

In 1996 Canada had an unemployment rate near 10%

It was at this time your Liberal party made changes to employment insurance

Lowered the maximum weekly rate from $448 to $413

Cut the maximum number of benefit weeks payable, from 50 to 45

Increased premium rates for employers and workers

Cut $2 billion out of the E.I. system

Set 58 different standards for E.I. eligibility

Set the lowest qualifying rate at 420 hours

The maximum E.I yearly payroll deduction was raised dramatically

Made new entrants or re-entrants to the labour market be required to work 910 hours in order to be eligible

So you see Mr. Ignatieff, at a time when Canadian's faced an unemployment rate 2% higher than today's, your party, the Liberal Party of Canada, made it harder to collect E.I., paid less, for shorter periods, and instead of putting those surplus premiums into job training, redirected those funds to general revenues, where we were blessed with such things as a canoe museum in Shawinigan, and three new Bombardier jets for the PM.

So the next time you are sitting in the House of Commons and start talking about being mean-spirited, you might be better off looking at the person next to you, or the ones sitting behind you, rather than the ones across the floor.

Update: Here is a great clip from a young? Peter Mansbridge on CBC in 1996:

8 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It gets worse.....Paul Martin chose to hide the income tax increases Federally by shifting the Refugee Policy costs to the Cities that take in the refugees. Close to $800'000'000.00 a year was spent on refugees,but as the truth came out that there was a 75% failure rate for claims....that became a clsoe to $400'000'000.00 a year for "Tourists" that were coached by sleazy lawyers to just stay in canada and have the Tax payers fund it until they get the boot. Toronto uses the property-taxes to fund a Federal Policy which is an out-right tax fraud scheme that the RCMP should have been called in on. Toronto has a solid Refugee-Vote area for Liberals because of this scheme that worker well for Martin, he claimed his slayed the Deficits and produced surpluses.

No Mr.martin, you raped the U.I. system, cut Health Care transfers, shifted refugees Policies costs to Home owners , allowed Toronto to hide income-tax increases via the new Municipal tax system that is bankrupting Toronto and being a Sancturay-City like L.A. . Even Olivia Chow joined in a rally in 2007 for the "No one is Illegal" groups, these are groups that smuggle Humans into canada in the guise of Tourists ( or War resistors) and then help them get all the Social benefits while Mayor Miller has a "Don't Ask,Don't tell" policy for Illegals.

Any wonder why Miller now wants Non-Citizens to vote in Elections? Miller knows what's in store for Toronto because he's an American that saw the same thing happen to nice Cities that became hell-Holes for guns and gangs and drugs.

I like that Iggy has no political baggage. I like that Iggy has an extraordinary mind and leadership ability. I like that he has a world view and that he has learned from other extraordinary people. I like that he will be PM soon.

Harper has an economics degree and never worked as an economist. Harper never worked in the private sector nor in academia. He really brings nothing to the table other than his nasty and brutish disposition (which has served him well in politics).

Say you were hiring a person to manage your company. Said person says well, I havn't been around much, havn't really done this kind of work, don't know a lot about your industry except what I read while I was away; but, look at it this way - I've never made any mistakes because I've never done this before so I don't have any "baggage".

Contrary to some I think that this matters a lot to Canadians. Viewers of the ad will watch it and then go about their lives until election time, when the "..just visiting" slogan and Iggy calling himself American will pop back into their memory. And it will pop back.

Re: Mr. Kinsella - he sure looks awful on his newest offering on his blog about how the LPOC intend to respond to the ads. Maybe he should have taken more time off?

CTV CBC would hide from telling such a story.Ignatieff walked right into the most corrupt liberal party in canadian history. He endorses, supports everything the liberals did to this country.Paulstuff, the E.I story you arose should be plastered in the french, newspapers and across this nation plus the video with mansbridge. For many years while the liberals were in government the people slept unaware to the happenings around them which the present mainstream media like cbc ctv g/m etc would like very much for the public to remain.OBLIVIOUS. We cannot allow them to continue in this manner. what's worse the media knowing what the liberals did to the E.I. remain silent as the conservatives are blamed by the liberals for the liberals' very own problems.